Dossier Translated and at the ICBF!

Just a quick update...our dossier was sent to Colombia on October 5th and the translation was completed only a week later.  It was then sent to the ICBF in Bogota to be reviewed, and (fingers crossed) approved!  Once it's approved we'll be placed on the Colombian Family Waitlist. 

I was just reading another soon-to-be-parent's blog...they are on the NON-COLOMBIAN FAMILY WAITLIST and they have been waiting for 3 years and 8 months for a referral!  Unbelievable....as long and as hard as this process has been for us, it is nothing compared to others.  I feel so fortunate that our wait will be much shorter - usually only 3 to 6 months!  We're getting very close...so exciting! dfdfsa

Dossier Complete!

I haven't posted in a while, but a lot has been happening.  We finally received our I800A approval notice, so it's on to the next step.....sending the dossier to Colombia!  Yesterday, I dropped off the last 3 Apostilled documents needed to complete our dossier, as well as a little photo album I put together with pictures of us and our families.

Our dossier should be in the mail today or tomorrow - we are SO EXCITED as well as relieved to be done with the paper chase part of the process!  It will take a couple of weeks to translate all the documents and then another few weeks to get our approval from ICBF  - that's if they don't request more information from us, which could delay things a bit.  Once we get approval from Colombia, we will go on the Colombian Family Waitlist.  Average wait times right now are 3 - 6 months for a referral. 

Stay tuned :).......

Where it all began...can you pick us out?

Home Study Complete! What's next....

It's been about a month since our last post and things are really moving along!  Our home study is complete, and the next step is a psych evaluation and then we are ready to file our I-800 form with the USCIS, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.  The I-800 form, once approved, will give us clearance to adopt from Colombia and bring our baby home to the United States.  I've heard that approval can take up to two months!  That's just brutal....there's not much we can do to prepare our dossier during that time because most documents expire after 6 months.  If the dossier is in Colombia when a documents validity expires, our case is put on hold while we prepare and send another document.  I definitely don't want to deal with that.  I actually got good news from one of the mom's at the gym who also adopted from another country, and she said her I-800 form only took a few weeks....so I'll keep my fingers and toes crosses for that :) !

After we get our I-800 approval, we'll gather all our documents and send them to Colombia!  After that it's just a waiting game....probably 2-6 months.

As for us....Alonzo and I are doing great!  We're so unbelievably excited.  I think I'm in nesting mode, though....I've heard this happens to moms that are pregnant.  My "paper pregnancy" is definitely making me feel the need to clean, organize, paint, etc.  I'm not ready to do the nursery yet.  I don't want to walk by an empty, finished nursery for months.  So, I think I'll wait to start that project.  BUT, I can't wait to do it....I already have it designed in my head!  I think this worries my hubby a bit...

Finally, I just feel really grateful today for all the blessings in my life.  I'm so thankful that the most wonderful man in the world is all mine....that I have a job that will give me the flexibility to travel to Colombia for a month when it's time to finalize the adoption, we have our health and so do our families, AND our tax refund came today!  Just in time for our upcoming adoption expenses!! Hooray!!!

It's like someone is looking out for us....

UPDATE: 2nd Home Study Visit, In between and whats UPCOMING

It has been almost 23 days since our last entry and a lot has been going on.

2^nd INTERVIEW:

We had our 2^nd interview earlier this month, and Kim cleaned the WHOLE house by herself on a Friday before, so that the house would be perfect for the arrival of our social worker, and her pending “inspection” of our crib. The theme of this 2^nd interview was one that I particularly enjoy: Me. ( I cant help it, im a Leo.)

Kim was there for the first 20-30 minutes, but then had to leave to the gym for work. After she left, we discussed EVERYTHING. From my parents to my friends, and my philosophies to my fears. It was the type of conversation I love having bc its so introspective and potentially eye-opening if you can listen to what youre saying as you say it. You almost start to ask yourself questions while you keep answering the ones posed to you. Like “wow, do I really feel that way? Or, whoa, I didn’t know I had an opinion on that; Why do I think that?”

However, it was really interesting to hear her responses too. It actually turns out we have a lot in common: Loving movies, fondness for DC, and a love for helping people. My favorite part was when she asked for a few adjectives to describe Kim. At first, I was admittedly tongue tied, not because there was a lack of words I could have used to fulfill her request but rather so many came rushing to my lips at once that it caused a massive traffic jam of words in my mouth. However, after I got out the first couple, Strong, creative, loving, loyal… the floodgates opened and she had to tell me to stop. Literally, she was like “ok that’s enough.” Oops.

We actually talked for so long that by the time we finished, it was almost 2pm and she had been there for 4 hours. As such, she kind of just got up and left. I asked if she wanted to see the house (kim worked hard getting it clean) and she was just like “no, ill see it next time.” Kim was not a happy mouse.

So it went very well. She got what she needed. I fully inflated my ego and was pea cocking around for the rest of the day. And we knocked out the 2^nd of 4 interviews.

IN BTW:

I had to go and get a physical, with blood tests, AIDS test, TB test, blood type test, and a free testicular squeeze from my French Dr. Faure. After waiting in the receiving room for 2 hours and seeing a lot of hot French moms go in and out of his office, while I was blatantly muttering under my breath “he HAS to be nailing these broads…,” I started to feel better that my Dr. was potentially a STRAIGHT PIMP! Everything turned our really well though, and made a full emotional recovery from having another man treat my nuts like Chinese medicine balls. I don’t have AIDS. No TB. I have O+ blood. Good blood pressure, good triglyceride levels, low to normal cholesterol. I do need to shed some poundage though. That’s ok though bc Kim has me on this crucial new diet. Ive actually lost 12 pounds in a week. Sweet.

I also submitted my child abuse background check application to the State of Texas (you have to submit one for everywhere you’ve ever lived…can you imagine if I was a circus performer, or wandering man slut? That’s a lot of paperwork.) Hopefully that one and the one from MD will come back quickly so we don’t have to wait forever to complete the package.

After the home study is complete, then we have to have it translated and begin filling out tax docs to complete the package. That and we need to keep making payments!!! After all, what would trying to give another human being a loving home, a family, support, and a future be if you cant profit from it! Ugh. Sad.

Kim is going to write the next entry about the 3^rd interview and its theme: A Mouse Tale.  Im exhausted. 

Our First Home Study Visit!

This week we had our first interview with a social worker for our Home Study report.  The Home Study is the first big step in the adoption process, the second is the I-800 approval (U.S. approval to adopt), and the third is the Dossier, which is sent to Colombia.  The Dossier is a HUGE packet of information which serves as our adoption application in Colombia - every single possible detail of our lives is in this packet, down to what time we like to eat dinner.  As I see it, once our Home Study is complete we are a third of the way there!

Ms. Minshew arrived at our house around 10:30am on Tuesday.....we were ready!  I had cleaned the entire house, the dogs were outside (Theo got a pep talk prior about growling at strangers), and we were excited to have our first meeting.  A few minutes later, we let the dogs in and of course....Theo growled. A lot.  Shiloh jumped up on the couch and tried to lick her in the face.  I think they're trying to sabotage the adoption operation!  She, luckily, has dogs and was really nice about it all.  By the time she left, they were both trying to lay in her lap.

The interview consisted of questions about our neighborhood, our jobs, our relationship, why were adopting, what kind of child we want (felt weird to answer that one), our hobbies, and how we think our lives will change with a baby.  Easy enough questions....and we like to talk.  The interview ran an hour over what it was supposed to!  She said we were easy to talk to and that she really enjoyed meeting us.  She couldn't believe that Alonzo and I have know each other since the first grade.  She said in all of her years working with families, she had never heard such a story. And, when she asked us how we thought our lives would change, we said, "completely."  We'll be a family.  We'll have this tiny life that will totally become the center of ours - and we can't wait.

Since our interview ran long, she asked if she could do the house tour next time....so, I cleaned like a maniac for nothing.  And, we're meeting again this Saturday so I have to do it all over again!  One more visit after that and our Home Study will be complete!  Things are moving right along.

Are you kidding me?

Home inspection not passed. Perilous infraction endangering the lives of parent and child: Dead bolt on front door needs a turn knob; not just a key remaining permanently in the lock.

When Kim called me and told me this, before shock, i think i was legitimately angry. Are you kidding me? Home inspection failed bc of that? However, God placed kim at the scene of the infraction and not me for a reason: I may have just flipped out. Actually, i told Kim to call her back right away and let her know that I was on my way to home depot and the illegal lock situation would be remedied in 3.6 hours so tell her to hang out, give her some cake balls, throw some wine down her throat, and ill be there before you know it. Yeah, she just left and rescheduled for another date/time when she could drive all the way from wherever she came to inspect our lock. Awesome.

UGH...As always, there was a take away from this madness: As parents, there will be a limitless supply of little "infractions," mostly caused by our kids, that will require cool headed and creative reaction. Perhaps via temperance and tolerance, we can learn how to be a bit proactive too.

After all, you can strangle inspectors and get all Hitchcock on eluding the feds (just kidding inspectors...and feds), but im fully expecting our children to entirely melt our hearts, and I, for one, am not of the sort who comes back easily from a good melting.

Wow...This blog is therapeutic and forcibly introspective. Who knew?

UP NEXT: Home Study on Tuesday.